Unbelievably Bad Science in the Movie “Seeds of Death”

I recently sat down and watched the 2012 anti-GMO documentary "Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs". The documentary was written, produced and published by Gary Null (an alternative medicine promoter who was once almost killed from one of his own supplements) and claims to expose the dangers of genetically modified foods. It consisted of interviews from apparently "leading" scientists, physicians, professors, attorneys. Most of which, for some unknown reason, are shot in front of a green screen with rather boring backdrops added in post-production.

By far one of the more hilarious, stupid and demonstrably incorrect comments in the documentary came from a Dr Rima Laibow, MD. According to her website she is a graduate from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and for the past 35 years has been promoting drug-free, natural medicine. However, after reading some of the outrageous and potentially dangerous claims on her website (like "nano-sliver will stop HIV), I question if she even has a basic medicine or science qualification. It also seems that she is aware of her own bullshit, as her website comes with a disclaimer saying that none of the advice given is intended to "diagnose, prescribe for, treat or claim to cure, mitigate or prevent disease conditions".

In the documentary Rima begins to talk about why scientists modify an organism’s genome. She states that “95% of all the genetic modifications are done in order to allow the plants to survive more chemicals being sprayed on them and to allow the animals to survive more drugs being put into them”. This is simply incorrect. Scientists have modified the genome of plants for a whole host of reasons, including resistance to viruses, resistance to pests, higher yields and not just the ability to be glyphosate tolerant. Rima also seems to be unaware that there are currently no GM-livestock on the market and those being developed have been given traits like the ability to mature faster, rather than the ability to “survive more drugs being put into them”. As hard as I have tried, I have been unable to locate where she got this figure of 95% from and can only surmise that she made it up on the spot.

Rima later went on to say one of the most jaw-dropping, unintelligent statements I have ever heard, which again makes me question her qualifications or the standard of graduates from Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

“And of course what happens is when their genes are changed our genes are changed by consuming them. Just as the super weeds and the super bugs are genetical altered by consuming them. The bug eats the plant, its genes change. The animal eats the plant, its genes change. We eat the animal or the plant our genes change, our babies’ genes change and the change is permanent.”

Whenever I am presented with something as idiotic as the stament above I always find it hard knowing where to start. It was so demonstrably incorrect that even my friend (who I watched the film with and has no scientific background) burst into hysterics at the thought of people having the magic ability to incorporate the DNA of what they have eaten into their own genome. We all know this to be incorrect, because if you eat a carrot, you do not gain the ability to synthesise carotene and turn orange. Considering GMOs are so widely used in America, you would think she would not have a problem talking about an example of this happening in the past or the mechanism of its action but she never does; she simply expects us to take her word on it. For this to somehow work in humans, the DNA from the GMO would have to survive being denatures if cooked. It would also have to survive nucleases from both the plant/animal cells and those within a human gut. On average, less than 5% of DNA survives beyond 7 hours after ingestion. The DNA would then need to pass (intact) though the gut, into your cells (without any help from any proteins) and somehow be spliced into every one of your cells’ genome. In short, it’s impossible and also FYI Rima, weeds don’t generally eat other plants.

So in conclusion, the documentary has shown the calibre of the people behind the alarmist anti-GMO movement. By getting such basic science incorrect, it is an insult to people who have legitimate concerns about the technology and some of the companies involved. It is also a joke that the maker calls Rima Laibow a “leading” physician when she clearly knows nothing about the subject she is talking about. Although this article only focussed on a 50 second clip of the documentary, I can assure you that the rest of it is full of the same level of knowledge (or lack of) and fear mongering. It even goes as far as to say that the planet is on the cusp of the 6th mass extinction because of GM technology. If you have a reasonably strong tolerance for bullshit I would actually recommend watching this film, if only for the awesome rap at the end by a white man in his 40s who can’t remember his own lyrics.

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My name is Myles Power, and I run the educational YouTube channel, powerm1985. I spend what little free time I have sharing my love of SCIENCE! through home experiments, visiting sites of scientific interest, and angrily ranting at pseudoscience proponents. I am also one of the founding members of the podcast 'The League of Nerds' - which I co-host with James from 'The History of Infection'.

6 Comments on Unbelievably Bad Science in the Movie “Seeds of Death”

If you dismiss the threat GMO foods present out of hand, then obviously you have never encountered any Vietnam veterans who have been exposed to Agent Orange. Any FOOL who believes GMO or Monsanto is good can very well go and poison themselves with GMO foods and DIE (and die quickly so no one has to listen to your nay-saying).

Trump supporter?….lmao, I’m guessing you’re all about the dark act too? That we should continue to blindly shovel in foods to see how the freak show plays out? Maybe all of you pro GMO peeps can be the laboratory rats for the rest of us confused folks for the next decade and show us just how safe these things really are. The point of this documentary and many non-GMO advocates is not even to stop GMO’s, it’s to stop the GMO force into our foods and food sources so we unknowingly ingest them. How the fuck is there even an argument against that?!? Ignorance to common sense gets so fucking old, holy shit!

Anon, WTF does Trump have to do with this argument? The fact you came out of the gate with that retarded statement shows the invalidity of the rest of your babbling bullshit. Putting politics in everything online shows how narrow-minded you are, but since you went there, how does it feel now that Killary won’t be in office? Thought so. No, I didn’t vote for either train wreck. Have a shitty day, derp.

Leta say the lady made up 95%, and even if the movie was created using green screen and backdrop, THAT’S NOT THE POINT! The negative effects of gmo consumption and impact on environment is non debatable. The tiny points of conflict that ive heard from people who try to negate anti gmo efforts are so miniscule compared to the amount of global impact we are facing. Also just to point out, the process in which our DNA eventually changes and causes us to become more susceptible to allergens is indeed just how Rina alluded. However it does not come from the plant or animals DNA, rather it comes from the RNA which attaches itself to a part of your DNA and therefore causes it to become “modified” as well.

It’s ok. The author, Myles, has a shitty youtube channel with bad production value in his videos. It appears he uses two overly hot diffuse lights right up on his ass and a shitty wide angle lens which makes everything distorted. The lighting is completely off as there is no fall off. You can see his skin disease quite clearly due to the bad lighting. You can tell the lighting he is using because he didn’t do a QC and realize the shitty tiny desk lamp on his desk is chrome and is reflecting the background you don’t see off camera. He is also sitting at his desk in a weird angle which doesn’t promote good story telling and embracing the audience (look it up). The audio is hot at times. It’s just a mess. For someone to go after another production company for using green screen, he really needs to look at his own techniques as they’re actually lower than those he is making fun of.

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